


Clinging on the Edge

by Wolfblood66



Series: Barely Hanging On [1]
Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-26 19:27:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/653633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfblood66/pseuds/Wolfblood66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Puck is caught in an aubsive relationship. Will it be enough to push him over the edge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ch.1 Falling out of Bed

**Author's Note:**

> I'm reposting this from fanfiction. Trying to fix some of my spelling erros as well. Hope you enjoy reading this. This is unbetaed.

Puck was curled into a ball quivering in his bed. He had one of his arms wrapped around his knees; the other arm was up by his head, while his hand pulled at his Mohawk. Tears were flowing down his already red face. He had been laying there for over an hour and whimpering. His sleeveless shirt and part of his mattress are soaked with his own tears.  
He just laid there praying that the bastard wouldn't come back down those basement stairs and into his bedroom again. God he thought this was all over years ago. He had actually begun to let his guard down around people again, had started to trust them even. He was beginning to make some real progress. Sure it was slow, but it was happening. He was beginning to open up at least around the other glee members anyways. They were the only people besides his sister and mother, who got to see any other side of him, other than his badass self.  
Now all that progress would be gone. Everything would go back to how it had been before, and that truly terrified him. He would go back to shutting people out again. The only way he knew how to, and that was being a badass full force. It was his only coping mechanism, his only defense against what was happening to him. He knew if anyone were to see him like this he would be ridiculed for the rest of his life. He couldn't think about that right now though. All he could think of was the pain and learning how to survive once more.  
Puck's cell started vibrating in his jean pocket. The sudden feeling startled his so much he fell off his bed. He hit the cement floor with a loud thud. Pain rushed over his entire body. He couldn't help but scream in agony. He just hurt so much. He hoped the bastard was too far gone to hear him.  
He glanced up the stairs waiting, but no one came down. Must be passed out by now Puck thought to himself. He took his cell out of his pocket and flipped it open. It was a text from Finn.  
Hey u haven't bothered to show up for class for the past 3 days or glee practice. U sick or sumthing? Mr. Shue worried. Finn's text read.  
Puck ran a hand through his Mohawk and bit down on his lip. What should I say, maybe I should just ignore him he thought. That would be the safe bet just to ignore him. Puck really didn't want to talk to anyone anyway. Puck slowly got up and laid back down on his bed. He just needed to sleep. In sleep he didn't feel as much pain.  
His phone began to vibrate again. Puck opened his cell back up  
Dude u alive? Finn's text read. Puck sighed but didn't respond to Finn's text. He threw his phone in the laundry basket next his bed. Then he closed his eyes and let the darkness take over his body. He was asleep within minutes.


	2. Taking Stock of Damage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bare with me on theses first few chapters, there a little rough to say the least.

Puck awoke to the sound of his grumbling stomach. He looked over at his alarm clock. It flashed 10:19 am. He realized he hadn't eaten since the day before yesterday. No wonder his stomach was protesting. He sat up on his bed and gasped a little from the pain. His whole body was sore and stiff. He knew it was going to take him time to get used to the beatings again.  
He managed to pull himself up out of the bed. His legs wobbled beneath him at the sudden movement. He steadied himself as much as he could before heading into his bathroom. He walked over to the mirror hanging over the sink, might as well take stock of the damage he thought. He was actually mildly shocked by what faced him in the mirror. There stood in the mirror looking back at him was a man hunched over with dark shadows under his eyes. The man in the mirror looked weak and terrified to be there. At first Puck wasn't even sure it was him, but soon realized it was.  
He stared at himself taking in the damage. He could see he had developed a shiner over his left eye. His bottom lip was also split wide open. He wasn't sure who caused that wound, himself biting down hard on his lip trying to stop from screaming. Or was it the man throwing the punches. Those wounds were the least of his worries though. Puck backed up away from the mirror a bit so he could look over the rest of his aching body. His right wrist was pretty swollen, and by the way his whole arm was hanging he could tell it wasn’t in the socket. Puck grunted, knowing he wouldn't be able to pop it back in on his own. He lifted up his shirt slightly with his good arm to look over the rest of him. His whole abdomen was covered in black and blue bruises. He sucked in a deep breath of air at the sight of his body. It looked like his whole body had gone through a meat grinder, felt like it too. He immediately regretted taking the deep breath as a sharp pain shot through his chest and sides at the action. He was pretty sure that pain meant one of his ribs was broken. He let his shirt slide back down over his body. He then turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on his face before leaving the bathroom.  
As Puck stepped out of his bathroom he could hear a slight buzzing sound coming from his room. It only took him a minute to comprehend that the noise was coming from his cell phone. He quickly retrieved it from where he had thrown it last night. He opened up his cell to see he had five new voicemails and twenty new text messages. Puck slightly sucked in his bottom lip while sitting down on his bed to listen to the messages. The first voice mail was from Finn.  
"Dude what's up? You haven't returned anyone's calls or texts and we've left you like twenty. You lose your phone again? Did you get yourself in trouble again and wind back up in juvie? Look man no one's herd from you in at least three days we are starting to get worried here. Give me a call when you get this okay." said Finn's voice.  
Puck just shrugged and ran his good hand through his Mohawk. He went over the rest of the voicemails and texts on his phone. All of them were from worried glee members asking where he was and if he was okay. The very last voice mail was from Finn again.  
"Okay beyond worrying now no one can get ahold of you! I even tried your mom but got no answer from her either. Everyone is starting to freak out wondering where you are. I'm coming over tomorrow to check to see if you're even still alive. I'll knock down the door if I have to." Said Finn's voice in a tone of panic.  
Shit, thought Puck. He knew he was going to have to come up with an explanation and quickly. Finn could come barging in any minute. He slowly got himself up and started heading up the stairs and into the kitchen. He knew he needed to come up with some sort of plan but first he needed some food. No good plans ever came to him on an empty stomach, besides he really was starving. He ransacked a couple of the cabinets before finally finding something edible. The box of poptarts he was now holding in his hand looked like heaven to him at that moment. He placed the box on the counter and went into the living room and grabbed his jacket off the hook. He slowly and carefully managed to put it on which was a hassle considering his right arm was out of its socket. Once his jacket was on he headed back into the kitchen and grabbed the box of poptarts and went outside. He sat down on his front steps and began devouring the box of poptarts. He was hungrier then he realized.  
Puck knew he couldn't let Finn knock down the front door. All that would ensure was another harsh beating. Puck gulped at the thought of another beating so quickly. He was fairly sure another beating might actually kill him right now. No, he knew he had to wait outside for Finn to show so that wouldn't happen. He would just call Finn, but knew by now he was already on his way and would actually want to see Puck to know he was alive. Puck sighed and started trying to come up with some sort of lie to explain everything.


	3. Lying Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos= Love

Puck now stared down into the empty box that once held poptarts. He had scarfed down the entire container in a matter of minutes. He started to stare at all the little designs on the box, looking into them as if they held all the answers he needed. He became so lost in the designs he didn't hear Finn's truck pull up into the driveway. He also didn't hear Finn, Mike and Sam get out of the truck and approach him.  
Puck didn't notice any of them were even there until Finn placed a hand upon his shoulder and gently patted him. Puck immediately stiffened at the touch, and then jumped back away from Finn. Puck curled in on himself and clenched his eyes shut. He waited for the pain to begin. No pain ever came to him though.  
"Dude just relax it's us. Calm down okay." Finn said in concern. He'd never seen Puck jump like that before. Finn could swear that Puck even looked like he was cowering now. No, couldn't be Puck was a fighter, not someone who cowered in fear. Finn quickly shook the thought out of his mind, convinced that Puck was just slouching now.  
Puck eyes shot open as he recognized the voice. He realized was breathing harder than normal and was still sitting in a cowering position. He shifted into a more natural pose and tried to steady his breathing. He now noticed Sam and Mike were standing there along with Finn. He sat dazed looking up at them; he couldn't believe how fast they had snuck up on him.  
"Dude what happened to your face. It looks pretty gnarly." Sam said seeing Puck's black eye and split lip.  
At first Finn couldn't see what Sam was talking about, because of how Puck was still slightly hunched over. Now that Puck was starting up at them though he could clearly see the injuries on his friend's face. Concern coursed over Finn.  
"What the hell happened to you? Why haven't you been at school or been answering anyone's texts or calls?" Finn's words came out in a worrying tone after seeing how his friend looked.  
There was a long awkward pause exchanged before Puck said anything to any of them. He just stared down at the ground for a while before finally breaking the silence.  
"N-nothing. I j-just… Just got into a fight with gang is all." Puck stammered. He knew in all honesty it wasn't the best lie ever, but it was all he could think of at the time. Besides it was semi-plausible considering who he was.  
"A gang in Lima Ohio." Mike stated not quite believing Puck.  
"Didn't say the fight happened in Lima." Puck shot angrily at Mike while glaring at him intensely.  
Puck was beginning to get defensive over the whole situation. No one could know what was going on with him. If any of them knew, they'd see him as weak. They would most likely think he was stupid for not fighting back, for taking such abuse. That maybe he deserved it, or that he maybe even liked to be smacked around. If anyone found out they'd all know how truly fucked up he really was. They'd think he was a sick freak. That's what scared him the most about them knowing.  
He knew he must be fucked up, because a part of him believed that he deserved the beatings and more. Felt like every punch, kick and verbal abuse was something he had somehow earned. He also knew that some sick part of him must enjoy it otherwise he'd put up some form of fight right? A part of knew that at least some of the reason he didn't fight back was because he was afraid his sister and mother would become the new targets of the abuse. To protect them he could manage being a punching bag or whatever else was needed of him.  
"Oh sorry I didn't mean anything by it. Hey your lip looks kind of bad; it could probably use some stiches. Maybe you should go see my dad or someone for it." Mike mumbled avoiding eye contact with Puck. He could tell by Puck's voice just how agitated he was.  
"Nah I'm fine, in fact I think I look pretty badass. Don't ya think? Besides it will heal up fast enough." Puck said while managing to give a small smirk.  
"Okay so you still haven't told us where you've been or why you haven't been answering your cell." Finn said starting to feel like Puck was trying to avoid something.  
Puck sighed and shook his head. He knew Finn wasn't going to let this drop until he got some sort of explanation.  
"Okay look if you guys really want to know I just went to Chicago for few days. Decided since my sister and mother got to go away for a few days I did too. They went to some dance recital thing or something in Indiana. While I was in Chicago I got jumped by some random punkass gang and sort of got my ass handed to me. The reason I didn't answer my cell was because I accidently left it here at home. I didn't get home till about till about 4am this morning, so I crashed. So I hadn't gotten chance to call anyone yet." Puck said daring any of the guys to call him on the lie.  
Well it's not the like the whole thing was a complete lie anyway. Not the part about his sister and mother anyway.  
"Oh well that sort of explains everything. Sorry about all the worried calls then. It's just the girls sort of had us freaking out. They kept telling us all the shit that could have happened to you. Guess we sort of jumped the gun on this though." Finn said running a hand through his hair with a goofy grin plastered on his face.  
A loud man's voice suddenly cut through their conversation.  
"Noah you get your ass in here now boy!" The angry voice hollered from the house.


	4. Praying to the Porcelain God

Puck froze for a minute terrified by the loud voice that had come from his house. Then he quickly jumped up on his feet to race into the house. Before he even managed to take a step forward though, his legs buckled under him. He hit the concrete steps with a sick thud not able to catch himself. Pain radiated through his entire body as he felt it make contact with the cold hard concrete.

Finn seeing Puck fall rushed over to his side. He grabbed ahold of Puck's right arm and tried to help his friend to his feet.

Puck felt a surge of blinding pain wash over his right side as Finn tried tugging him up. Puck couldn't help the moan of agony that escaped his mouth as the new pain shot through him. He just had to hope no one noticed it. The pain was just becoming too much to bear to keep it all in. Finn finally managed to get him to his feet and steady him.

"Easy there dude, must of stood up too fast." Finn said smiling down at Puck.

"Yeah, I guess so." Puck said a little shaky while managing to smile back at Finn. All he could think of was that at least no one had heard him scream from the pain.

Finn had heard the gasp of pain escape Puck's mouth, but wasn't sure if it was from the fall or something else. He quickly patted Puck on his right shoulder as a sign of reassurance towards his friend.

Puck winced in pain at Finn's gentle pat on the shoulder. He tried to back away from Finn's touch as nonchalantly as possible.

Finn furrowed his eyebrows in concern when he saw how Puck reacted. Finn grabbed a hold of Puck's right arm so he could no longer back away.

Another scream of pain escaped Puck's mouth. Tears began to feel his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall. Couldn't let anyone see just how big of a baby he really was.

After hearing another scream of pain leave Puck's mouth Finn shoved Puck's jacket sleeve up. He was shocked at what he saw. Puck's entire right arm was an angry shade of red and purple. It was also just hanging there limply in his grasp like it was made of rubber. Finn immediately let go of his friend's arm, at a loss of anything to say.

Puck could feel everyone's eyes on him. His heart began to race at how they all gawked at him.

"Puck you got to go see a doctor about that! Seriously man from how swollen it looks it's probably broken." Mike said stunned by how bad Puck's arm looked.

Puck shot Mike an angry glare. He did not under any circumstances want to see a doctor. In Puck's opinion doctors asked way too many questions and could never give you any help.

"Look if you don't want to go see a doctor at least come see my dad. He is a doctor and can help and trust me he won't judge you. If the bone is broken it could get infected and you could die from it. Please Puck just let my dad look at you; come on you have got to be in a lot of pain." Mike said after seeing the look in Puck's eyes.

Puck had to admit he was in a lot of pain. More pain then he had experienced in quite a long time. Puck shook his head then let out a small sigh. Before he could respond though, the angry voice rang from the house again.

"Noah where the fuck are you boy!" the angry voice shouted.

Puck jumped slightly backwards and peered over his shoulder. The voice was getting angrier.

"O-okay I'll g-go see your d-dad, but first I got to go see what mine wants." Puck said stuttering.

Puck then turned around and ran into his house.

Mike, Sam, and Finn all went back to Finn's truck to wait for Puck to return. Finn was going to make dam sure Puck went to see a doctor, even if that meant dragging him there.

Puck entered the house and walked into the living room where his dad was waiting for him. Puck seeing his father instantly brought all the fear and pain back. Puck unknowingly tried to make himself become as small as possible. He could feel his father gazing down at him.

"And just where the fuck have you been? You're supposed to come when I call you! Or do you need to be taught another lesson!" His father growled loudly as he walked over to Puck and got right up in his son's face.

Puck could smell the stench of alcohol rolling off his father's breath.

"N-no s-sir." Puck said barley in a whisper. Puck was now trembling uncontrollably.

"Good. I'm more in the mood for some fun anyway. Although some lessons can be a lot fun to teach." Puck's father sneered at his son.

Puck whimpered at his father's statement. Fear rushing through him.

His father’s eyes glimmered with excitement at reaction his words seemed to have on Puck, he pushed in even closer to Puck. 

Puck's father gazed into his son’s eyes. Then he slowly moved one of his hands onto one of Puck’s biceps and began to massage it. Using his other hand he slowly began to pull Puck’s t-shirt up exposing Puck’s abs. He gently rubbed his hand up his son's abs slowly tracing the curves they made. When he found his way up to one of Puck's nipples he began to rub over it with his thumb, and then he started pinching it slightly.

Puck looked down at the floor trying to pretend he was somewhere else. Inside his head he was pleading to god for the nightmare to end. Please god not that, anything but that. Please not again! Tears began to fill his eyes.

"Umm….D-dad a couple of m-my friends are waiting outside for me. T-they need my help with some school project.” Puck lied.

Puck's father stopped playing with his son's nipple and made a somewhat sad face.

"Oh well, I guess there goes my fun for the day. Well since you're going out anyway pick me up another case of beer and another carton of smokes. Still remember which brand I smoke right?" Puck's father said while now petting his son's stomach.

Puck nodded still in shock that his father was actually going to let him leave.

"Good boy. Now don't stay out too late. You know how cranky I can get without my smokes." Puck's father said taking his hand off his son's stomach and pulling his shirt back down into place. He gave Puck a slight pat on the cheek then went back upstairs leaving Puck all alone.

As soon as his father was out of sight a wave of nausea swept over Puck. He ran to the bathroom barely making it in time before his entire throat filled with a warm liquid and emptied into the toilet.

 


	5. Riding in Cars with Boys

Puck shook violently as yet another round of vomit left his throat. Before long his entire stomach contents were emptied into the toilet. He was now dry heaving still feeling queasy from his father's unwanted touches.

Puck pulled away from the toilet shaking as he walked over to the sink. He splashed some water into his face and over the back of his neck. He looked up at himself in the mirror; he could see just how bad he was trembling.

"Get ahold of yourself man. You can't go back out to the guys shaking like a leaf." Puck said to himself in the mirror shaking his head, running his hands through his hair. He glared back at himself in the mirror.

The person that was now glaring back at Puck from the mirror however was not Puck. The reflection still looked like Puck, but it was not him. The Puck in the mirror was strong and confident looking. This was the old Puck that was now in the mirror. The part of Puck that for all intents and purposes was now dead. The Puck he was now was weak, broken, and a pathetic excuse for a man.

"You know you're so weak. You make me sick; can barely stand to look at you. When I ran the show you use to take shit from no one. Now look at you your father comes back to town and you turn back into a little cock sucker! You must really enjoy it too seeing as how you won't do anything about it. God you're so fucking weak and WORTHLESS! I told you he would come back, but you went ahead and let your guard down! See where it's gotten us." Puck's reflection from the mirror spat out at him.

Puck shut his eyes tight. He could feel tears forming there again. He let out a deep sigh of anguish.

"I know, god I know. I'm worse than shit and I deserve all of this. I'm such an idiot, I knew he'd come back. I am worthless, but there's nothing I can do now." Puck said to himself.

Puck stared back up at himself in the mirror. His reflection had changed back to someone he once again recognized. His broken little, worthless self, that's all he was now. His former confident self was once again dead. He knew this time it would probably stay dead too. He sighed again and then walked out of the bathroom. He steadied himself a little more before heading back outside to the guys. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to face what came next.

**Line…..**

Sam glanced through the truck window up at Puck's house. Puck seemed to be in there for a while now and he was beginning to wonder what was taking so long. Couldn't Puck's father see how bad Puck looked, that he needed to see a doctor? Now that Sam thought about it though hadn't Puck told him his father was out of the picture? Sam's wheels were slowly turning in his head.

"Hey didn't Puck tell us all that his dad was a deadbeat, and not in the picture?" Sam said voicing his question out loud.

"Yeah well he was until about three months ago. Puck said he turned up out of the blue with some sob story. He had told Puck's mother that he changed. That he had quit drinking and using drugs. He'd changed his life around, was a new man. Apparently Puck's mother believed him because she took him back." Finn said addressing Sam's question.

"What about Puck? Does he believe that his father has changed?" Sam said to Finn.

"No I don't think Puck believes it for a minute. Sort of get the feeling he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Although I got to say I have met the guy a few times and he seems pretty nice. I also have seen him genuinely trying to reconnect with Puck. So far though I don't think Puck's having any of it. Puck just sort of blows him off entirely. "Finn said now staring back up at the house.

"Yeah well his father sounded pretty angry and mean to me." Sam said.

"Puck has been in there for a while now you think he's okay? I mean was it just me or did anyone else notice the look in Puck's eyes when his father called for him. I've never seen him look like that before." Mike said rethinking the events that had happened earlier.

The front door of Puck house swung open. Puck steeped out of the house and walked over to Finn's parked truck.

"Hey don't think we're all going to fit in there." Puck said while motioning to Finn's truck.

"I don't really think I can drive though with my arm all busted up. So would one of you mind driving me in my truck?" Puck said dangling his keys in front of the guys.

"Um sure I'll drive since I know where were going better. Finn you and Sam can just follow behind us." Mike said while getting out of Finn's truck and taking Puck's keys.

The two of them walked over to Puck's black truck and got in. Mike backed out of Puck's driveway and they headed off to the hospital.

Mike looked over at Puck. Puck was just staring down intently at the interior of the truck as if he was trying to avoid looking at Mike.

"You okay Puck? You seem kind of down. Everything okay with you and your dad he sounded kind of mad earlier." Mike said while returning his eyes back to the road.

"Umm… Yeah everything is fine he was just kind of mad because I took off without telling him. He said the only reason he was letting me go out now was because he likes Finn. Thinks he's a good influence on me or something. As for being down I'm just in more pain then I really care to admit." Puck said still not taking his eyes of the truck's interior.

"Oh, didn't you tell him we were going to the hospital to get your arm looked at? I mean wasn't he concerned? He didn't want to come with you or anything?" Mike said looking wearily at Puck.

Something didn't seem right in Mike's mind. He knew how his father would react to seeing him look half as bad as Puck did now. Something just wasn't right.

"No, I didn't even show him my arm. Umm… H-he did seem to show a little concern for me when he saw my eye and lip. Really all he's doing is putting on an act though, but I'm not buying any of his father of the year crap. I won't, not again." Puck said hoping his lie was convincing enough.

In reality all Puck's father ever showed him was blows and things Puck wished he could just forget about. There were more than a million things Puck wished he could just forget about his father. They were all seared deep into his memory though like a permanent tattoo, even a laser wouldn't be able get rid of them.

"Oh I see." Mike said as he turned into a parking space at the hospital.

"Come on, I already called my dad when you were in the house he's already waiting for you." Mike said while hopping out of Puck's truck.

Puck glared up at the building wondering how long this nightmare would last. He stepped out of his truck trying not to fall again as his legs began to wobble. For some reason his legs felt like Jell-O a lot lately. He shrugged and began walking up to the hospital along with Mike, Sam and Finn.


	6. Dr. Feelgood

"Noah Puckerman, you can come on back now." A cheery older nurse wearing care bear smocks said while looking down at her clipboard. For some reason she reminded Puck of his grandmother.

Puck looked up at the nurse then looked back to his friends siting in the crowded emergency room. All three stared back at him confidently. Puck wondered how good his chances were if he tried to make a run for it. He was fairly positive he might be able to out run Mike even with his injuries. He might also be able to outsmart the other two and actually be able to leave, but he knew with all three working together he wouldn't stand a chance.

Puck took a deep gulp of breath before resigning himself that running away was not an option. He saw the nurse clicking her heels impatiently at him. He unwillingly got up and started following her back into one of the private rooms.

The nurse led him into a pristine white room with one of those elevated bed things. Puck wasn't exactly sure what you called those things, but to him they always seemed to be up higher than necessary.

"You can take a seat. I just need to ask you a few standard questions before the doctor comes in."

Puck went over to the elevated bed and struggled to hop up on to it. The sides of his chest and abdomen seemed to protest this movement. More pain raked trough his body, which caused him to release a small whimper.

The nurse seeing the action went over to Puck and helped ease him onto the bed further.

"Oh you poor dear, you're in more pain then you were letting on out there. Trying to keep up the tough guy act in front of your friends huh? Well you don't got do that in front of me, now from a scale of one to ten how bad is the pain. One being the least amount of pain ten being the highest." The nurse said soothingly to Puck.

"Umm I guess I'd go with an eight. I've felt worse so yeah, I guess an eight." Puck mumbled to the nurse.

"Okay sweetie, need you to tell me where it exactly hurts, and how long have you been experiencing the pain." The nurse cooed to Puck.

**Line…**

After fifteen minutes of questions and the nurse checking Pucks blood pressure the nurse finally was done. With the promise that Dr. Chang would be right with him in a few minutes the nurse left the room. Puck was alone at last, away from prying eyes. Puck wrapped his arms around his torso and started rocking back and forth on the bed. Puck looked over the garment the nurse had left for him to put on. Puck was trembling at the sight of the offending garment now. He knew he had to put it on to be checked over by the doctor properly, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He just felt so exposed at just looking at the garment. He began to tremble harder as images of being so exposed to people flashed through his eyes. His chest started pounding, it became hard to breath. Puck felt like he was dying.

Dr. Chang entered the room and looked over at the young man who was shaking on his table. He walked over to the Puck and placed a hand on his shoulder. Puck jumped at the touch, but then began to rock harder.

"Umm, Noah. Noah Puckerman" the doctor called, he received no response from Puck. Dr. Chang got out a little flash light and started to shine it into Puck's eyes.

"Noah I need you to relax, you're okay. Just calm down, you're in a Doctor’s office. I want you to take a deep breath in then let it out okay." Dr. Chang said while continuing to shine the light in Puck's eyes.

The words slowly started to sink into Puck. He took a deep breath in then let it out as commanded. He did it again and again until he was finally able to stop trembling. His chest stopped pounding and he no longer felt as if he was going to die. He looked up to see Dr. Chang staring at him.

"There, there you're okay now. Noah you just experienced a panic attack and judging by the look on your face you've never had one before. It's going to be okay you're probably just really stressed with what's happened to you." Dr. Chang said to Puck.

 A wave of fear washed over Puck at Dr. Chang's words. _"Oh god he knows everything. I'm so dead. Dead. D-E-A-D!"_ Puck's thoughts screamed at him.

Dr. Chang saw the rush of fear through Puck's eyes.

"Noah it's perfectly okay to be scared after having been mugged. The panic attacks most likely won't happen again once you don't feel as stressed. My son's told me everything that happened so will just take this nice and slow okay. Just want to help you. Can you take off your shirt for me?" Dr. Chang asked.

Puck stared wide eyed for a minute. He didn't know what had really happened; he just wanted to look over Puck's wounds. Puck shook his head before hesitantly taking off his shirt for the doctor.

**Line…**

Puck stepped out of the hospital and into the parking lot sporting a bright lime green cast on his right arm in a sling. Mike's father had said Puck had been lucky to even walk away from the mugging that he had known plenty of people who hadn't.

All in all Puck's injuries weren't so bad, well at least to him. Three stiches to his lip, a broken wrist, five bruised ribs that were now wrapped and a now popped back in place shoulder. The shoulder and wrist had been the worst part about this whole experience. Mike's father had to physically rebrake Puck's wrist a bit because the bones had already stared healing in the wrong position. He had wanted Puck to be under for both his wrist and popping the shoulder back in place, but Puck had out right refused. So the doctor had done while he was awake. It had hurt like a bitch, but Puck remembered receiving worse pain from his father.

Anyway it was all over now, and he got the best thing ever after it. Pain killers, oh wonderful pain killers! He popped two pills in his mouth before the doc had even put his shoulder back into place. Puck had been on pain killers before; they made everything just so, well, awesome! He knew he'd be on a high in a matter of minutes. In addition to the pain pills Dr. Chang had prescribed him he was also given something to help with the panic attacks. Some type of pill which he couldn't even begin to pronounce the name of correctly. Puck would have to experiment with that pill a bit, but if it made him less jumpy he'd be okay with taking that too.

Puck walked straight past the guys without saying a word and hoped into his truck. He just sat in the driver's seat trying to figure out why he wasn't moving yet with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Umm what does he think he's doing?" Finn questioned looking at Puck in concern.

"Oh he'll be fine eventually dad said the pain killers might make him act a little goofy for a while." Mike said looking into Puck's truck.

Puck was now staring down at his lime green cast. The cast started to remind Puck of a snake he once saw at the zoo.

"Hiss hiss." Puck said while wiggling his fingers in his cast.

"Well I think I'll take Puck home, think he could use some sleep. You don't have to follow I can just walk home it's not too far." Sam said while raising his eyebrows at Puck who was now giving a queen wave to guys.

Sam took Puck's truck keys from Mike and headed over to the truck. He opened the trucks door and watched how Puck stared at him.

"You okay buddy?" Sam asked as Puck continued to stare at him.

Puck let out a small gasp and looked terrified for a moment.

"I can't find my keys and there’s something wrong with my arm. You would tell me if I was turning into the hulk right, because I can’t tear my clothes to shreds my mom would kill me." Puck said with a pouting lip as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at how hilarious Puck was acting. Puck just continued to look hurt and confused though. Sam finally stopped laughing and motioned for Puck to scoot over to the passenger seat.

"You didn't lose your keys. I have them, and I'm going to drive you home okay. Oh and you're not turning into the hulk you just have a cast on remember." Sam said while tussling with Puck’s hair a bit before putting the keys in the ignition.

"Oh, yeah I knew that." Puck said eyeing his cast more closely.

Sam smiled at Puck, and then turned on the radio as they turned out of the hospital. Sam couldn't help but smile again as Puck began to sing along with the Mötley Crüe song Dr. Feelgood.


	7. Moving Trees

Sam was enjoying the car ride back with Puck. His friend finally seemed to be acting like himself again. Of course he was also acting a little high which only added to Sam's amusement. Puck was singing along with the radio and talking about how one day he was going to leave Lima behind.

"Can't wait to leave this shithole town and never come back." Puck said gazing out the window watching the trees wiz by.

"Oh come on man you can't mean that, at least the never coming back part. Lima's not that bad, and what about your mother and sister? Just going to leave them behind and never look back? What about your friends? You really goanna leave all that behind?" Sam questioned wondering just how serious Puck was.

“I’m not leaving Sarah behind. I'll take her with me, just need to save up enough money. As for my mother she can come if she wants, but I think it’s too late for her. I know it’s too late for her. As for friends, they can always come and visit me. Need to be free." Puck said looking stoic as if this conversation was draining the life out of him.

"Ok man, yea I get the feeling of wanting to be free." Sam said taken aback by how serious their conversation had become. He really had no clue what to say to Puck. Sam had never in his life felt like he wasn't free. So he really just couldn't grasp the concept.

"I never know trees could move so fast. Woosh. Woosh." Puck said staring out the window.

"Puck they are not moving we are, and for God's sake stop undoing your seatbelt. You don't need to add death to the number of injuries you have if we get into a car accident!" Sam yelled at Puck addressing him as if he was a two year old.

"I wish I could fly and magically appear and disappear, I wish I could fly, I'd fly far away from here. If I could fly I'd be free. I could disappear from everyone. The voices, him, you,… myself. Just fade away from it all. Puck said now looking down at the floor of his truck.

Sam could see a certain kind of sadness in Puck then. The boy sitting beside him looked like a former shell of himself. Something had changed in Puck and Sam didn't like the change. He also couldn't help but feel like the change in Puck would never go away. Sam was determined to figure out what had happened to his friend. Was this all really the result of getting mugged or was it something more. All he knew was that he had to help Puck.

"Stop! Stop the car now!" Puck yelled interrupting Sam from his internal thoughts.

Sam stopped the truck immediately obeying Puck's command thinking maybe he was going to be sick.

Puck jumped out of the truck and ran across the street to a gas station. He was nearly hit by a red Colbot in the process but luckily made it across without getting seriously harmed.

Sam couldn't figure out what Puck was doing. To avoid another incident of almost road kill he pulled into the gas station. After sitting there for 10 minutes he was about to go in when Puck came jogging back to the truck with a very large plastic bag,

"What's in the bag? What's with the sudden stop? You could have told me where you needed to go. I would have pulled in so you didn't have to cross the street. Jeeze dude do you know how lucky you were not to get killed?" Sam yelled at Puck, he was just so concerned.

Puck didn't say anything for a long while. He just stared down at the dash; the silence was slowly growing awkward. Puck looked as if he was a kicked puppy. Sam couldn't stand it any longer. He couldn't stand to see anyone look so upset.

"Puck listen, I’m sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you like you're a two year old. You just scared me, that's all. Your whole personality is sort of freaking me out today. Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened?" Sam stated hoping Puck would speak again.

"I'm fine, and no I don't want to talk about it. I'm not a chick who needs gossip." Puck said while keeping his eyes glued to the dash.

"Ok man, but I'm here." Sam said while starting to back up the truck.

“I know. Just my dad wanted me to get groceries. I almost forgot and I don't want to get yelled at again." Puck said looking anxious.

The rest of the car ride was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Not even the radio seemed to break it. Soon they pulled into Puck's driveway.

"I'll see you later" Sam said walking away from Puck's house.

"Yea ok, Golden boy" Puck said smiling and waving at Sam before entering his house.

"Golden boy?" Sam shrugged. He sort of felt like he was getting whiplash with Puck today.

Puck slowly entered his house and jumped when he saw his father sitting in the living room chair glaring at him.

"Um Hi there creeper." Puck giggled

“You get my stuff." Puck's father grunted.

"Yea right here" Puck said holding out his arm with the plastic bag.

"You seem to be in a good mood, you been drinking my beer." Puck's father growled at him.

"No I just got happy pills from the doctor." Puck said looking amused.

“You didn't tell him where you got those injuries did you?” Puck's father asked angrily.

"No, not stupid." Puck said shaking his head like a rattle.

"Good boy, why don't you have a beer? Since you were so good, then we can have some fun. Puck's father said with a wicked grin spread across his face.


End file.
